All Posts by Ingrid

I love the way Stacy has chosen to process this shot as a Black and White image. It makes the foggy atmosphere all the more intriguing and those trees to appear all the more frightening! If you’d like to hear what else I had to say about Stacy’s image, please click on the video below.

Aperture: f/6.3,

Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec

ISO: 320

The Take 52 Weekly Photo Challenge is a really great way to improve your photography by getting out there and shooting! We have a great group of keen amateur photographers over on facebook who are always ready to jump in with advice on their comments on your work. We’d love to have you join us!

This week’s theme was “Local” and it was really fascinating seeing glimpses into where everyone lives. Amid a vast array of landscapes and street scenes there were a few portraits and this one by Michael Knight stuck out to me as something we could all learn from.

Michael Knight – Local

Aperture: f/5.6

Shutter Speed: 1/160

ISO 125

If you would like to here what I have to say about Michael’s image please click on the short video below.

This post was inspired by a question in my Take 52 group on Facebook. If you are not in that group then you are missing out on all kinds of good information and a cool bunch of photographers friends too 🙂 – So join us!

“How do you set Manual Mode in your DSLR”

Shooting in manual mode is often considered the holy grail to many beginner photographers but its important to remember that there are many levels of manual shooting and it really is not the be all and end all. If you are comfortable making a few mistakes here and there though, its a great way to start taking control of your camera and learning to use it to the max.

What do I mean by Manual Mode?

Manual Mode should really be more clearly defined as Manual Exposure Mode. This means that you, the photographer are taking full control of the exposure of the shot. You will decide on the the Shutter Speed, the Aperture and the ISO value you need to shoot at. It is these three variables that go to make up the correct exposure. If you change one of these variables it will impact one or both of the others.

Its important to remember therefore, that there is no one correct combination of Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO for any one scene – there are several combinations that will work. Which one you choose is at your (the photographer’s) discretion depending on the look and feel of the image that you are trying to create.

So for example, if you are a portrait photographer, and Depth of Field is really important to you, then that is the variable that is top of mind for you and you will have a certain f/stop in mind that you will want to stay within to achieve your particular look.

If you are a Sports photographer, Shutter Speed is usually the most important thing to, so you will strive to shoot at as fast a shutter speed that the conditions will allow.

Its the combination of these variables and which one do you change that trips people up in my experience.

Just remember which the the one that is most important to you, hold it where you need it to be and fiddle with the other two until you get a correct exposure.

How do I know when I’ve got a correct exposure?

In through the viewfinder of your camera you have a little meter that reads -3..-2..-1..0..+1..+2..+3 The goal is to have the indicator right on the 0, unless you are trying to deliberately over or underexpose your shot (then you’d shot towards the + or – side of the meter.)

In Canon cameras such as the Rebel T5i, there is a command wheel at top of the camera. Turing this dial changes the Shutter Speed value. If you have a mid-range DSLR like the new Canon 7D ii (lucky you!) you may also have a second dial either on the back of the camera body or at the top right hand corner (Nikon.) Turning this dial will change the Aperture. If you do not have this second dial then consult your user manual as you will need to press and hold another button while turning the main command dial. This gets a bit tricky and takes a bit of practice!

What about Manual Focus?

You can shoot in Manual exposure mode and have a whole host of other things taken care of Automatically in your camera, including Focus. The Auto-Focus on modern DSLR cameras is really excellent and there are only a few times when it doesn’t work well. (If you are shooting in low light for example or trying to photograph through glass)

So I prefer to always shoot in Auto-Focus as I trust my camera more than my eyes!

Semi-Manual Modes

So we’ve established that in Full Manual you are in control of all three exposure variables – Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO. The other modes in the creative zone let you control some of the settings whilst the camera controls the others.

In Av, A or Aperture Priority Mode YOU control the Aperture and the camera sets the Shutter Speed to compensate. You also can control the ISO or leave it to Auto in this mode.

In Tv, S or Shutter Priority Mode, YOU control the shutter speed and the camera sets the corresponding Aperture. You can also set the ISO in this mode.

In Program Auto you can only control the combination of the the values, you cannot change each one independently, but you can still control the ISO.

So you see there are many steps from that little Green Box of Full Auto to Full Manual. Don’t frustrate yourself by jumping in the deep end too soon and just keep shooting and paying attention to the numbers and you’ll get there eventually.

A brand new year brings a brand new Take 52 Weekly Photography Challenge and I’m proud to say that this year its bigger and more lively than ever! We had a record number of submissions and I am promising to try my best at being consistent with one video critique per week.

This week’s image was submitted by Chris Reynolds for Week 1 Theme “Beginning”

“Where Pecan Pies Begin” by Chris Reynolds

Image Stats:

Camera:Nikon D300

ISO:200

Shutter Speed:?

Aperture:f/8

Listen to what I had to say about Chris’ image, by clicking on the video below.

If you would like to improve your photography with weekly practice we’d love to have you join our friendly group on Facebook so click here to find out how it all works and sign up to get access to the group!

January 6th at home in Ireland is called Nollaig na mBan or Women’s Christmas. It’s traditionally the last day of the festive season and one day for the women to finally put their feet up and take a rest. Ha! Not likely in this house! Here in the US the Christmas season only lasts one or two days and this year we even took our tree down on the day after Christmas day itself as we were headed out of town. Needless to say today, the holidays are truly over, despite me still finding pine needles everywhere (I guess Spring Cleaning has yet to begin in this house!) Our minds have instead turned to the New Year, new resolutions and new commitments to master new things. Now’s the time to finally figure out how to use that camera and polish up your photography skills!

If improving your photography is something on your list for 2015 I’ve outlined my top 5 tips below on how to help you achieve this goal.

1. Take your camera out of the box! Seriously! Take your camera out and have it accessible in your daily life so that when the notion takes you, you can grab it and shoot. Charge the battery, stick on a lens and leave it somewhere convenient in your home. Better yet, get one of these cool camera purses and you’ll have no excuse not to take it everywhere you go and look cute to boot!

2. Schedule playtime for yourself. Try to calendar in some dedicated time each week to allow you to play with your camera and it’s settings. Press the buttons and see what happens – I promise you can’t break anything and if in doubt you can always turn it off and turn it on again 😉

3. Read the Manual. I know you have one – it’s probably still sealed in the little plastic baggie in the bottom of the box. Throwaway the French/Spanish version and read a little of the Double Dutch version that came with your camera. If that doesn’t work, consider buying one of the appropriate Dummies for … Books which help to break your camera functions down into easy to understand language. The less intimidated you are by the thing, the more likely you are to become it’s friend. I promise you there is no self-destruct button on there so you really can’t do any damage (at least not on the new models…) If you are local to Atlanta and want to meet up to go over your camera functions get in touch and we can meet for my crash course session which will have you confident with your gear in no time.

4. Get out of Auto. Move away from that little green box or smiley face and play with all those other modes on that mode dial. Mr Canon wouldn’t have put that dial right up there on top if he didn’t want you to turn it, now would he? It’s only by taking control of the settings that you are ever going to improve. Spend some time learning what some of those numbers mean and what happens when you change this or that. There is oodles of info on all this stuff out there but if you would like to cut to the chase, check out my course for absolute beginners and my course for those who feel a little more confident and are truly ready to get of of auto.

5. Shoot Shoot Shoot. Did I mention I think you should shoot? It’s really the only way to get better. One of the ways you can commit to doing this is by taking part in a daily or a weekly photo challenge. Project 365 has been around for a while and it involves taking a picture every day of your life to document the everyday. I tried this for about 20 days and decided instead that a photo a week might be more doable for me. Hence the Take 52 Challenge was born! I now head up a group of more than 1,000 like-minded beginner photographers who hang out in a private group on Facebook. Every Monday morning I issue a one worded prompt to inspire participants to get out and shoot around that particular theme. It’s amazing what a little assignment can do and this weekly, constant practice is truly one of the best ways of improving your craft. The Take 52 group has the added bonus of a supportive community to answer questions, give help and advice and critique your work. The improvements made by past participants is incredible and I’d love to have you join us. Click Here to Join the Take 52 Challenge for 2015

It’s week 36 on the Take 52 Challenge and this week’s theme was “Crushed.” I choose this image by Cindy Csomo for critique as I was enthralled by her use of bright colors and when she shared on the Facebook group of the lengths she went to to reshoot the image I was super impressed!

We are onto Week 34 with our #Take52 Challenge critiques and this week’s theme was “Tricky.” I absolutely LOVED how Julianne Anderson interpreted the theme to capture a regular everyday moment (at least this is in our house!) In this case, one picture tells the story of at least 20mins (or the duration of Doc McStuffins)

Image Stats:

Shutter Speed: 1/30

Aperture: f/9

ISO: 400

Edited in Photoshop

To hear my critique of Julianne’s image click on the video below.

Julianne shared with the group that she achieved this image by following a tutorial on YouTube by Photo Extremist. This guy does LOTS of cool things with photography and even has a brilliant ebook on the subject which you can check out here. I think it would be a great read for anyone tempted by this type of photography or if you are just a little bored by the same old stuff. I know I’m going to try out some of the things recommended and I’d love to see your efforts too! Click here to learn more about the Ebook which includes 9 hours of video tutorials.

If you would like to join the Take52 Challenge there is still time and we always love to see new faces 🙂 Find out more here.

Welcome to my first ever live Hangout on Air! Check out the video below to see me doing my very first live broadcast – not the best quality but I’m so impressed by the technology – and its totally free!

In this series I’m planning on answering any of your photography questions in a (mostly) live Google Hangout every Tuesday morning about 11am EST – CameraShy Q & A . Email me your question if you’d like or show up live and we can chat about it!

This week’s question was from regular blog reader Jackie – click on the video to hear her Q and my A!

To get an invite to the next hangout be sure to follow me on Google +.